The group issued the boycott after the ice cream company released a public statement asking people to "not (be) complicit" to systemic racism and injustice.

"It’s been hard to watch the list of unarmed black Americans killed by law enforcement officers grow longer and longer," Ben & Jerry's wrote. "We understand that numerous black Americans and white Americans have profoundly different experiences and outcomes with law enforcement and the criminal justice system. That's why it's become clear to us at Ben & Jerry's that we have a moral obligation to take a stand now for justice and for black lives."

"Ben & Jerry's went beyond making a statement in support of civil rights when they actively accused law enforcement of widespread racism," a Blue Lives Matter representative wrote on the group's official website. "By spreading these false and misleading statements, Ben & Jerry's lends an appearance of legitimacy to the baseless claims that police officers are killing men based on the color of their skin. This message has inspired the assassination and attempted assassination of police officers, and it costs officers their lives."

Whether you care about their stance on reparations or parenting, this is about more than just the lives of police officers. Please get the word out that Ben & Jerry's position doesn't reflect American values.Posted by Blue Lives Matter on Monday, October 10, 2016

Ben & Jerry's attempted to address concerns that the company was pointing the finger at law enforcement in its initial statement.

"We want to be clear: We believe that saying black lives matter is not to say that the lives of those who serve in the law enforcement community don't," the company wrote. "We respect and value the commitment to our communities that those in law enforcement make, and we respect the value of every one of their lives. We do not place the blame for this on individual officers. Rather, we believe it is due to the systemic racism built into the fabric of our institutions at every level, disadvantaging and discriminating against people of color in ways that go beyond individual intent to discriminate."

But Blue Lives Matter said the Ben & Jerry's campaign is "dangerous."

"By not only attacking law enforcement, but openly supporting Black Lives Matter, Ben & Jerry's is sure to anger most Americans who do not agree with the political causes that they are supporting," the group said.

President Barack Obama noted in a recent proclamation that the day recognizes "our obligation to lift up women and girls at home and abroad" and to "build a world where girls feel safe and empowered in their classrooms, their communities and their homes."

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The U.N. General Assembly's UN Women points out that the 1.1 billion girls around the world are a "powerful constituency" for shaping a better world.

But there are many issues, including child marriage, that prevent girls from living their best lives.

The theme of this year's International Day of the Girl is "Girls' Progress = Goals' Progress: A Global Girl Data Movement." It's a call to action for better investment and analyzing girl-focused data. The hope is by recognizing and closing the gaps in data and knowledge about what girls need, young women will be empowered.

A closer look at Washington Redskins wide receiver DeSean Jackson's cleats during warmups for Sunday's game against the Cleveland Browns show yellow caution tape in a design that criss-crosses the shoes.

In a statement, Jackson addressed the design, saying it was part of a bigger message.

"Today is the start of my attempts to be part of a solution and start dialogue about the senseless killings of both citizens and police," he said. "I have chosen to wear these cleats in pregame today to use my platform as a pro athlete to add to this discussion. This isn't meant to be any kind of protest against the good men and women in law enforcement in this country. I just want to express my concern in a peaceful and productive way about issues that are currently impacting our country."

"I've seen enough yellow caution tape, and it's time for a stand and a change in our community and society," Jackson told TMZ.

"We stand in support of both DeSean and the law enforcement community," the team's statement said. "We have great respect for law enforcement and the sacrifices they make each and every day to protect and serve our communities. We continue to have open dialogue with our players about issues that are important to them and support their efforts to bring awareness to those issues when done in a responsible manner."

Jackson, who also told TMZ that he's using his "stage and platform" to raise "awareness to help prevent these killings," said that he is "also coming up with a master plan to start a movement."

"He pulled out his burlap sack and then he had the rope and whatnot and then he started offering us bananas," said Jaylen Grimes, one of the demonstrators. "A lot of us didn't take it, but I just took (it) as a sign of peace offering and just to show him that just because he's being disrespectful towards me, I won't be disrespectful towards him."

As part of his counterprotest efforts, Rettke held up a sign that said "Lives Matter."

A video posted by The Shade Room (@theshaderoom) on Sep 28, 2016 at 7:54pm PDT

"He's just trying to get a reaction out of us that we're not going to give him. We're bigger than that," said one protestor who held a sign that read "Black Lives Matter (doesn't mean) all lives don't (matter).

Rettke, 18, was escorted from the protest by public safety officers and was later criminally charged by the Johson City Police Department.

Rettke told police he went to the event "in (an) attempt to provoke the protesters."

ETSU President Brian Noland held a press conference Wednesday after seeing video of the incident. He discussed the event during a "community dialogue" on campus.

"I was offended, but I was also saddened," Noland said, calling Rettke's actions "incomprehensible, intolerable and impermissible."

Rettke has been placed on interim suspension from the college.

In a statement, ETSU said Rettke's actions "go against the values" of the school and that the university is a place "where people come first and all are treated with dignity and respect."

The university applauded the protestors for remaining clam despite Rettke's actions.

"We are exceptionally proud of the students who were peacefully participating in the event and the manner in which they exercised restraint, thoughtfulness and strength in the face of inappropriate and offensive behavior," Noland said.

"Of course, it's hard to stay calm because they're doing it because they know they can get under your skin," Grimes told The Johnson City Press. "You've just got to have thicker skin and be the bigger person and just show that ignorance is not going to override your ability to be calm. Because being calm is a lot more difficult than reacting the way they want us to react, which is in a violent stereotypical black way. But we're not all like that."

"We hold no ill towards him," another student, Grant Madison said. "I added him on Facebook and want to speak with him about why he did it."

Georgetown University is taking steps to atone for its historical ties to slavery.

The plan includes giving the descendants of slaves the same admissions advantages that children of alumni receive. Two buildings on campus will also be renamed.

One will honor Anne Marie Becraft, an African-American woman who opened a school for black girls in the Georgetown area, and the other will commemorate one of the slaves sold to help pay off the university's debt.

In 1838, Georgetown University sold 272 slaves to pay off some of the school's debt. The slaves were uprooted from Maryland and sent to Louisiana.

The university has addressed its history with slavery before, but recently, a committee appointed to determine how the university should address its history found that slavery was deeply rooted in Georgetown's founding.

Profits from the sale of slaves and from plantations run by slaves were a planned source of funding for the school, and many of the campus' early buildings were built, at least in part, by slaves.

Georgetown's investigation started in August, and the student body began putting pressure on the university last year to open a dialogue about its history with slavery.

Some parents criticized the message, saying that it perpetuated gender stereotypes by suggesting a female complete chores before getting out to do more meaningful work.

"I'm insulted that you present a future where our daughters need to complete their 'home duties' before they can go out and save the world," a Melbourne mother, Ninac Ollins, wrote on Target Australia's Facebook page. "We know that working mothers still do more housework than their spouses,. We don't need you to perpetuate this inequity."

Target, can you explain why you are selling something as offensive as this in your stores currently? What message are...Posted by Ninac Ollins on Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Another user, Summer Edwards, said the T-shirt's message "is utterly offensive and must be removed."

Target, are you serious? In a world where so many are fighting so hard for equality for our daughters, you put this on your shelves? Speechless.Posted by Shelley Wedemeyer on Wednesday, August 24, 2016

"Target, your Batgirl T-shirt is out of step with 21st century family values," Edwards wrote.

"In a world where so many are fighting so hard for equality for our daughters, you put this on your shelves?" customer Shelley Wedemeyer asked the retailer.

Dozens of other customers and parents said they didn't see an issue with the shirt.

A Target Australia representative responded on behalf of the company, saying: "Thanks for sharing your feedback with us. It absolutely wasn't our intention to cause any offense with this shirt, so we really appreciate you all getting in touch with us to let us know your thoughts. We've taken this feedback on board, and sincerely apologize for any disappointment caused."

The shirt was later pulled from stores.

"After reviewing and reading our customers' concerns on the Batgirl tee, we have decided to remove the shirt from our stores. It was never Target's intention to offend our customers with this item," a spokeswoman told The Guardian.

The "Today" show pointed out that other messages on children's clothing have roused similar sentiments, including an Old Navy shirt that called boys "Ghostbusters" while girls were "Ghostbusters in training."

New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz was asked at a press conference Saturday what he thinks about San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick's decision to sit during the national anthem.

"I'm not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color," Kaepernick said about the choice. "To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder."

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But Cruz said that certain political issues are "bigger than" Kaepernick.

Here are Cruz's full remarks:

I think, personally, the flag is the flag. Regardless of how you feel about the things that are going on in America today and the things that are going on across the world with gun violence and things like that. You’ve got to respect the flag and stand up with your teammates. It’s bigger than just you, in my opinion. I think you go up there. You’re with your team, and you pledge your allegiance to the flag and the national anthem as a team, and then you go about your business, whatever your beliefs are. Colin is his own man. He decided to sit down and sit out and that’s his prerogative. But from a personal standpoint, I think you have to stand out there with your team and understand that this is a game and understand that what’s going on in the country.

This week, Sherwood District Court Judge Milas "Butch" Hale is the subject of a lawsuit claiming the judge has been running a "modern-day debtors' prison." The class action federal civil rights lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and Robertson is one of the plaintiffs.

"This is a broken court system that disregards due process rights at every turn. People are doomed for failure when they appear before the court, and most significantly trapped in this never-ending cycle of expanding debt," said Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. "With the resurgence of debtors' prisons, we will continue to see people cycle in and out of jails and prisons across our country merely because of their inability to pay fines and fees tied to low-level, nonviolent offenses."

The suit lawsuit describes a "lucrative" system in Sherwood that "only barely resembles an actual court or independent judicial process," The Post reported.

The suit alleges that defendants, including Robertson and three other plaintiffs, unknowingly forfeit their right to an attorney by signing a "waiver of counsel" that is required to be let into the courtroom and that the court bars defendants' family and friends from witnessing the proceedings.

The suit also claims that the Sherwood Police Department acts as an "extension" of the court's "collections scheme," arresting hundreds of people on "failure to pay" or "failure to appear" charges.

"A single bounced check written 10 years ago for $15 can be leveraged into a debt of thousands and thousands of dollars in fines and fees for inability to pay the original check and then inability to pay the payments that were set up," state ACLU executive director Rita Sklar told KATV-TV.

"Each overdrawn check, no matter how small, can bring in $400 in fines and fees, plus restitution for the amount of the check," The Post reported, adding that the city's budget benefits from paid fines and fees.

"We do not run a so called 'debtor's prison' in Sherwood," Halle told KATV. "If a defendant pleads guilty, or is found guilty, of writing a hot check we set up a payment plan. It is only after the third or fourth time that they fail to comply with a court order that we incarcerate."

An Albuquerque Italian restaurant has set the internet on fire with its line of "Black Olives Matters" shirts and hats, with critics castigating what they feel is a flippant play on the "Black Lives Matters" movement and fans urging the business not to back down.

It appears that the restaurant, Paisano's, is embracing the social media storm.

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The restaurant says its slogan originated to promote a dish on the menu and later inspired the branded T-shirts and hats. The hat is being sold for $25, the restaurant says on its Facebook page. Many Twitter commentators were swift to condemn the marketing ploy:

But the restaurant is receiving lots of support, too.

New customers Cedric and Marcea who came in specifically because of the T-shirt news story "controversy" " Great...Posted by Paisano's on Thursday, August 11, 2016

Restaurant owner Rick Camuglia told BuzzFeed News his chef came up with the idea to place the phrase on the restaurant's sign first, and he approved it. Camuglia was surprised by the public's reaction.

"We thought it was a cute play on words that would draw somebody to try our black olives," he said. "It was literal. There was nothing positive or negative about (Black Lives Matter) that inspired us to put that on the sign."